Israel – Page 90

ווין ערכה ביקור בישראל

הפרמייר של מחוז אונטריו, קתלין ווין, ביקרה בין היתר ביד ושם. (צילום: הקונסוליה הישראלית)

הפריימר של אונטריו תומכת בחוק נגד אנטישמיות, אסלאמופוביה וגזענות

הפרמייר של מחוז אונטריו, קתלין ווין, הודיעה כי תתמוך בחוק חדש שנועד לגנות אנטישמיות, אסלאמופוביה וגזענות. דבריה של ווין נאמרו מסגרת דיון בפרלמנט של אונטריו בשבוע שעבר. ווין הציעה לפעול ביחד עם נציגי האופוזיציה לקדם את הצעת החוק החשובה.

photo - Premier of the Province of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, even went jogging early and well-covered promenade of Tel Aviv — הפרמייר של מחוז אונטריו, קתלין ווין, אפילו יצאה לריצת בוקר מוקדמת ומתוקשרת בטיילת של תל אביב. *(צילום: הקונסוליה הישראלית)*

ווין ערכה ביקור בישראל במהלך מאי עם משלחת גדולה בת מאה שלושים ואחד איש, בהם שרים, אנשי עסקים ונציגים של המוסדות האקדמיים. לווין נקבעו למעלה משמונים פגישות במהלך שבוע צפוף עם אירועים וטקסים. היא ניפגשה בין היתר עם ראש הממשלה, בנימין נתניהו, הנשיא לשעבר, שמעון פרס, נציגים בכירים של המוסדות הקדמיים, אנשי עסקים, בני נוער ונציגים של המגזר הערבי. ווין ביקרה בין היתר ביד ושם, בכותל המערבי ואפילו יצאה לריצת בוקר מוקדמת ומתוקשרת בטיילת של תל אביב. נציגי ממשלת אונטריו וחברי המשלחת חתמו על ארבעים וארבעה הסכמים לשיתוף פעולה, עם נציגי המגזר העסקי בישראל, בשווי שמונים ושבעה מיליון דולר. הסכמים אלה יביאו ליצירת מאתיים ושישה עשר מקומות עבודה חדשים במחוז אונטריו. במהלך הביקור אמרה ווין על ישראל: “ישראל היא היא יפה, מסובכת ומקום השראתי”.

מכת עורבים בוונקובר: הציפורים השחורות תוקפות ברוחובות הולכי רגל שנמלטים בבהלה

אימה נפלה על אזור ונקובר. עורבים תוקפים באגרסביות הולכי רגל בפינות שונות של העיר וסביבותיה, שנמלטים בבהלה ומחפשים מיסתור במפני הציפור הרעה. התופעה כאילו לקוחה מאחת הסצנות של סרט האימה מהידועים ביותר בתולדות הקולנוע ‘הציפורים’, של המאי אלפרד היצ’קוק (שהופק בשנת 1963). תופעת העורבים התוקפים מאוזכרת דחופות באמצעי חדשות השונים כאן וברשת אף הועלתה מפה בה מצויינים מוקדי הפורענות של הציפורים הגדולות. וכל זאת כדי להרתיע הולכים ושבים שינמעו מלצעוד ברחובות ובאזורים מסויימים.

כידוע העורבים שומרים על הביצים בקינים שלהם לקראת סוף חודש אפריל, והם הופכים לתקופניים מאוד בעיקר בסוף עונת האביב, עת הגוזלים הקטנים מתחילים לעוף, וכהורים טובים הם מנסים להגן עליהם בפני כל רע. מבחינת העורבים כל מי שעובר בסמוך לקן שנמצא באחד העצים הגבוהים מעל המדרכה, נחשב לסכנה ויש להרחיקו בכל מחיר. מבחינת תושבי אזור ונקובר מדובר בסיוט שלא נגמר ורבים רבים מרגישים חסרי אונים.

כמה מאות הולכי רגל הספיקו לדווח כבר על מקרי תקיפה מצד העורבים בשבועות האחרונים, לאתר (שמופעל על ידי הסטודנטים של הקולג’ לאנגרה) שמעדכן כל העת את המתרחש. כך שמצטיירת לה מפה עירונית שהולכת וגדלה מדי יום, בה מצויינים בהדגשה מוקדי הפורענות העיקריים מצד העורבים. ונקובר לא נמצאת לבד: גם בערים הסמוכות לה ובאזורים נוספים ברחבי מחוז בריטיש קולומביה הולכים ומתרבים מקרי תקיפות מצד הציפורים השחורות והגדולות, המקרקרות ללא הרף. אף אחד באמת לא אוהב את העורבים.

מומחים שמכירים היטב את התנהגות העורבים שנחשבים לציפורים “אינטלגנטיות” לא מתפלאים מהמהומה הרבה סביבם. הם מציעים להולכי הרגל שהותקפו כבר לחפש דרכים חילופיות, ולא לצעוד באותם אזורים שוב ושוב. עוד מוצע לצעוד עם מטריות שיש להן יכולות טובות להגן בפני העורבים הרעים. יש אזרחים שמציעים לתת דווקא אוכל לעורבים האויבים שלאחר מכן יזכרו לך חסד. מכל מקום מומלץ ביותר שלא לגעת בשום פנים ואופן בעורבים או בגוזלים, וודאי שלא להתקיף אותם. כי אז הם יזכרו זאת לנצח ומעשה הנקמה עוד בטוח יגיע . מחקרים מראים שלעורבים יש זיכרון מצויין והם משתפים את חבריהם במידע על מי שתוקף אותם. לא לשכוח.

Time to change Hatikvah?

(photo by Zachi Evenor via commons.wikimedia.org)

With Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger’s private members’ bill seeking to change the lyrics of O Canada having advanced to its second reading, I am thinking about another anthem close to many readers’ hearts: Hatikvah. With Yom Ha’atzmaut having recently passed, the content of Hatikvah deserves some reconsideration.

Bélanger’s amendment would make the Canadian national anthem more gender-inclusive, changing “in all thy sons command” to “in all of us command.”

As reported by CBC News, Bélanger said, “As Canadians, we continually test our assumptions and, indeed, our symbols, for their suitability.” He continued: “Our anthem can reflect our roots and our growth.”

It’s a statement that is rife for comparing with the Israeli experience. Israel’s Jewish state-building origins have long been challenged by the country’s democratic requirements.

When it comes to inclusiveness, Bélanger knows of what he speaks. Over the last several months, Bélanger has been an especially unifying figure in the corridors of Canadian power, having been recently diagnosed with ALS. Not long ago, my own synagogue in Ottawa honored him in a highly moving ceremony that easily transcended whatever residue of partisan divisions may have remained after what was an unusually divisive Canadian election.

Despite being written in the highly gendered language of Hebrew, Hatikvah doesn’t suffer from gender exclusion (its gender inflections are mostly in the neutral “we” form). But there is a different gap in its inclusiveness: the 20% of Israeli citizens who are Arabs. Reports about swearing-in ceremonies of Knesset members or Israeli judges from time to time include a mention of an Arab or Palestinian honoree walking out or simply refusing to sing.

Writing in the Forward in 2012, Philologos (a pseudonym for Hillel Halkin) proposed changing Hatikvah’s lyrics to make them more inclusive. “It’s unacceptable to have an anthem that can’t be sung by 20% of a population,” he wrote. “Permitting [the minority] to stand mutely while others sing is no solution.”

Philologos’ fix is simple. Change Yehudi (Jewish) to Yisraeli (Israeli), and le’Tzion (to Zion) to l’artzeinu (to our land). Close the song with “in the city in which David … encamped.”

It’s an idea that is top of mind for Israel’s Arab MKs, such as Yousef Jabareen, who told me in a 2015 interview that he believes Hatikvah should be adapted “to accommodate both national groups.” He added, “The Arab minority are not just another minority. They are a native minority. They were there before the establishment of the state of Israel.”

When thinking about any type of policy change, it’s important to consider who stands to gain and who stands to lose. Given that a recent Pew poll found that 79% of Israeli Jews feel they “deserve preferential treatment,” it’s clear that Jewish Israelis are comfortable with their position of privilege – whether legislative or symbolic – in Israel. It stands to reason that any erosion in perceived privilege might be seen as a threat.

Israeli Jews may not embrace these sorts of changes. Neither, when it comes to changing O Canada, do some Conservative MPs, citing no need to bend to “political correctness,” as Larry Maguire said. Another MP, Kelly Block, said she does “not believe the anthem is sexist,” according to CBC News.

However, there is something powerful about allowing for expanded boundaries of inclusion. Further enfranchising those who feel excluded can help buttress the institutions that constitute the state, and the costs would be relatively low.

By their design, national anthems are meant to express the will of the polity. Those who wield power might want to think about the effects of the content of national symbols on those who don’t feel represented by them. When it comes to nation-building, casting a net that extends to the edges of the polity bears fruit for democratic functioning and civic identity.

Mira Sucharov is an associate professor of political science at Carleton University. She is a columnist for Canadian Jewish News and contributes to Haaretz and the Jewish Daily Forward, among other publications. This article was originally published in the CJN.

Record Negev Dinner

Left to right: Gary Segal, 2014 Jewish National Fund Negev Dinner honoree, 2016 honoree Shirley Barnett and Ilan Pilo, Jerusalem emissary and executive director of JNF Pacific Region. (photo by Robert Albanese)

The tally is in. On April 10, the Jewish National Fund, Pacific Region’s soldout Negev Dinner raised a record-breaking $1 million to rebuild a shelter in Rishon LeZion. To be called the Vancouver Shelter, it will be a safe haven for families of all religions and backgrounds while providing them with the time and space to forge new independent lives. It will be run and operated by the Israeli nonprofit No to Violence Against Women, which works with women and children fleeing domestic abuse. The shelter project was selected by dinner honoree Shirley Barnett.

Josh Cooper, chief executive officer of JNF of Canada, praised Barnett for her community leadership and Frank Sirlin, JNF-PR president, lauded her dedication to the Jewish value of tikkun olam, repairing the world. Addressing the dinner guests, Sirlin said about Barnett’s philanthropic work, “Shirley knows what she wants and she makes it happen.” He also thanked the JNF-PR’s board and donors for making the event a great success.

Ilan Pilo, JNF Jerusalem emissary and Pacific Region executive director, spoke about the importance of the shelter and the funds raised from the dinner for it. He thanked the community at large, as well as the volunteers, lay leaders, dinner chairs and committee and all JNF supporters for supporting the project and for making it a record-breaking year.

photo - Jewish National Fund Negev Dinner honoree Shirley Barnett, left, and B.C. Premier Christy Clark — Jewish National Fund Negev Dinner honoree Shirley Barnett, left, and B.C. Premier Christy Clark. *(photo by Robert Albanese)*

Attending the dinner, which was held at the Four Seasons Hotel, were several dignitaries, including Consul-General of Israel to Toronto and Western Canada D.J. Schneeweiss, Premier Christy Clark, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Linda Reid, Minister of Justice and Attorney General Suzanne Anton, Minister of Advanced Education Andrew Wilkinson, B.C. NDP House Leader and Official Opposition Solicitor General Critic Mike Farnworth, former member of Parliament Stockwell Day, former member of the Legislative Assembly Grace McCarthy, and founder of No to Violence Against Women, Ruth Rasnic.

Entertainment for the evening was provided by Arik Davidov, an Israeli trumpet player, who also impressed the audience with his shofar playing. Arnold and Anita Silber were this year’s honorary chairs for the Negev Dinner and television and radio broadcaster Shane Foxman was master of ceremonies. Lorne and Melita Segal hosted a reception at their home the night before the dinner.

Since its inception in 1901, JNF has been the sole agency responsible for the development and infrastructure of land in Israel. Its many programs include land reclamation, reforestation and road-building.

Donations go directly to fulfilling the needs of one of the many development areas such as water, forestry and environment, education, community development, security, tourism and recreation, and research and development. For more information, contact Pilo at [email protected] or 604-257-5155, ext. 821.

Rare transplant

Prof. Eytan Mor, left, and Dr. Evyatar Nesher with a kidney transplant recipient at Petach Tikvah’s Beilinson Hospital, which is part of the Rabin Medical Centre. Mor is director of the transplant department and Nesher, the department’s deputy head. (photo from Ashernet)

About nine years ago, a 55-year-old woman with a congenital kidney disease underwent a kidney transplant in the Philippines. Last week, she died following a stroke and her brother, who suffered from the same congenital disease and needed a transplant, received his sister’s kidney, which was still viable, though she had died. This was the first time such a surgical procedure had been performed in Israel, and it is thought that this procedure has been performed only five times in the world. This is also the first time that such a transplant has been carried out between family members. It is hoped that this landmark operation will encourage more live donations of kidneys.

Yisrael Beitenu in coalition

Avigdor Lieberman takes his seat in the Knesset on the afternoon of May 30 in his new role as defence minister. (photo from Ashernet)

For some time now Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been trying to enlarge his right-wing coalition government. Apart from holding several important portfolios, including foreign affairs and economy, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the government to carry out its policies with a majority of only one seat in the 120-seat Knesset. As well, within the coalition there was pressure over issues that were of special interest to particular factions.

A Knesset vote of 55-43 approved Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu (Israel Our Home) party to join the coalition and gives Netanyahu 66 seats. Lieberman was appointed minister of defence. In the Israel Defence Forces, he attained the rank of corporal.

Lieberman’s predecessor was Moshe Ya’alon, a former IDF chief of staff, who had warned of the rising tide of extremism in the Likud and resigned from the party and the Knesset on May 20.

Recalling the Six Day War

Jerusalem Day celebrations in Israel (photo by Ashernet)

This Jerusalem Day – 28 Iyar (June 5) – marks 49 years since the city split in two by Jordanian occupation became reunited. Nowadays, the names of battle sites are just part of our everyday language – French Hill, Ammunition Hill, Government House – but back in 1967, these were the places where armies were pitted against each other in battle.

We didn’t have Ramat Eshkol then; the hilltops of Gilo were barren and windswept. The Israeli army fought to win territory to the north and the south, until only the walled Old City was still in Jordanian hands.

The war, not of our making, was sparked on April 7, 1967, when the Syrians opened fire on Israeli tractors working near Kibbutz Ha’On, east of the Kinneret. The Israel Defence Forces returned fire, so the Syrians began shelling settlements. Israel Air Force jets were sent to destroy Syria’s artillery batteries. Then Syrian MiGs were sent to intercept them, resulting in dogfights above Kibbutz Shamir. Eventually, six Syrian planes were downed and Syria demanded that Egypt issue a response, which posed a dilemma for president Gamal Abdel Nasser. To prod him, Syria said Israel was amassing forces on the northern border, which was untrue, but Nasser sent massive forces to Sinai on May 14 and 15.

Israel had to call up its reserves, as all United Nations troops had left the Sinai and Gaza. Volunteers swarmed to help with transportation, distributing food and preparing bomb shelters, helping in factories and kibbutzim. Thousands of our soldiers were deployed along the Egyptian border waiting for cabinet to make a decision.

There were frequent meetings between prime minister Levi Eshkol and chief-of-staff Yitzhak Rabin, who said that the IDF was strong and could repel any Arab attack. There were messages from U.S. president Lyndon Johnson calling – as is always the case! – for Israel to show restraint. Egypt also was asked not to escalate the situation.

Eshkol announced that Israel did not seek war, but to no avail. The Egyptians closed the Tiran Straits. On June 5, the war began. Two hundred IAF jets destroyed the entire air forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan: 374 planes were destroyed on the ground and the rest in dogfights. Israel had complete aerial supremacy during the six days of battle.

On the ground, the IDF entered Sinai in three columns. Jordan started shelling Jerusalem, firing day and night, resulting in many casualties, while Syrian jets raided Haifa Bay and northern settlements.

On June 6, our paratroopers surrounded the Old City and, at 10 a.m. on June 7, they broke through the Lions’ Gate, liberating the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. Lt.-Gen. Motta Gur stood near the Wall, and announced on the radio: “The Temple Mount is in our hands!”

After hours of fierce battles, the paratroopers burst into tears. According to Mordechai Rechschafner, a volunteer from Australia, “There was no sense of jubilation. We had lost too many friends. We had paid for our victory with blood and sacrifice.” When Maj.-Gen. Shlomo Goren, the chief military rabbi, arrived at the Kotel, he blew the shofar and said a prayer: “This is the day we have been yearning for. Let us rejoice in it!”

The Six Day War ended two days later, after the Israel Navy conquered the Tiran Straits and seized Egyptian army bases and airfields in Sinai, and Israel captured the Syrian fortified posts. When the Golan Heights was conquered, the war ended.

There was both great euphoria and terrible sadness. Jerusalem was the focus of the greatest celebration, but a great toll had been exacted. All day the radio played Naomi Shemer’s “Jerusalem of Gold” – it became a victory anthem.

It was three years later that I arrived with my husband and four children in Jerusalem. Forty-six years have passed, and my love for the city has deepened every day. There have been hard times and there was heartache when each of our children served in the army. When our son was a paratrooper in Lebanon, we questioned whether we had made the right decision in bringing them from the safety of their birthplace Australia. Now, most of their children have served in the army or are soon to be inducted, but none of them has ever felt we made a wrong decision. They grew up in Jerusalem and know as we do that it is special. Our feet walk over the stones that King David danced on. We pray at the Western Wall where the Holy Presence, the Shekhinah, still lingers. We travel roads on which kings, soldiers, priests and other holy men have traveled for thousands of years, century after century. Every day, we bathe in the unique quality of golden light that artists have striven to capture.

Each neighborhood in Jerusalem is different. Quiet alleyways that meander, bustling markets filled with the color and spicy smells of the Middle East, walled courtyards softened with a glimpse of greenery. Holy sites where prayers are whispered and blessings invoked. Quiet hills silhouetted with pine trees. Graveyards for the old and military cemeteries for the young. Parks where children laugh and dimpled babies are wheeled in prams. So ancient, and yet also a modern metropolis where people work, play, shop, drive, argue and love.

This Jerusalem Day, as I have for more than four decades, I will thank G-d for the privilege of living here and pray for the peace of Jerusalem forevermore.

Dvora Waysman is a Jerusalem-based author. She can be contacted at [email protected] or via her blog, dvorawaysman.com.

Sarcophagi returned to Egypt

(photo from Israel Antiquities Authority)

One of two Egyptian sarcophagi covers – one dating to between the 10th and 8th centuries BCE (Iron Age) and the other to between the 16th and 14th centuries BCE (the late Bronze Age) – that were seized by Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) inspectors four years ago while checking shops in the market of Jerusalem’s Old City. In a short ceremony on May 22, they were returned to Egypt. Egyptian ambassador Hazem Khairat expressed Egypt’s appreciation for all the efforts made by the Israeli authorities to return these smuggled antiquities to their country of origin.

Stop negotiating, says Pipes

Gina Faigen, daughter of the late Dr. Morris H. Faigen, who founded the annual Faigen Family Lecture Series, with this year’s speaker Daniel Pipes. (photo by Jocelyne Hallé)

Israel should stop trying to find a negotiated solution that provides a mutually agreeable resolution to the conflict with Palestinians, says Daniel Pipes, and instead declare victory and force the Palestinians into the realization that they have been defeated.

Pipes, a commentator and historian who is president of the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum, made the comments in Vancouver May 9 at the fifth annual Faigen Family Lecture.

The idea of land for peace, in which Israel gives up concrete real estate for the “ephemeral idea” of peace, has failed, he said.

“We can all agree that the Israelis do not have more peace for giving up Gaza and parts of the West Bank,” said Pipes. “It’s not working.” Instead, he said, Palestinians view Israeli concessions as a sign of weakness and this has led not to increased peace, but to increased hostility.

“Rather than mediation and compromise and painful concessions, such has been the case, how about something different?” Pipes asked. “How about Israel wins and the Palestinians lose? How about Israeli victory?

“Victory is not a term you hear much,” he continued. “People talk about a peace process, negotiations, but this is a conflict, this is a war. It’s been a war for a century. And an end comes to a war when one side acknowledges that it’s lost, that the gig is up, that it cannot win.”

Germany lost the First World War, Pipes said, but they didn’t feel defeated. They wanted another round and they got it in 1939. After 1945, the Allies realized they had to demilitarize Germany and Japan, to demonstrate that they had been conclusively defeated.

“Defeat is sanitary,” said Pipes. “Defeat allows you to move on.… I think that’s what the Palestinians need. Not only for Israel’s sake – obviously for Israel’s sake – but also for the Palestinians’ sake. Only by being defeated can the Palestinians stop obsessing over harming Israel and instead start building their own polity, culture, society. It’s good for everyone, Palestinians as well.”

Pipes clarified: “I’m not calling for killing Palestinians.” The idea is to impose on Palestinians the sense that they have lost.

“There’s no point in getting into the details,” he added.

He would like to see Western governments adopt policies that would urge the Israelis to win the conflict.

“We don’t go to the negotiating table. It doesn’t work. We need to win,” he said. “Let’s give up on this failed, decades-old effort to have the Israelis give more and the Palestinians take more and give nothing in return.”

Questioned by an audience member on what victory would look like, Pipes said: “You’ll know that Israel has won when the Jews of Hebron have no more need for security than the Arabs of Nazareth … when an irate Palestinian writes a strongly worded letter to the editor.”

Pressed on how such a victory would be achieved, Pipes at first demurred.

“I did not talk about how to get there because I would encourage you to see things this way,” he said, before giving some examples.

“The other day there was shooting out of Gaza. The Israelis replied with shooting back into Gaza,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be more effective to cut off the water and electricity for a day? The next time two days? Wouldn’t that send a signal? Why don’t the Israelis do that? Because they don’t have a plan for victory.”

Until 1993, Pipes said, Israel strove for victory.

With the Oslo process that began in 1993, and after, Pipes said, Israel adopted a policy of appeasement. When that failed in about 2000, they adopted a policy of unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon and Gaza.

“And, since about 2006, there’s been no policy at all,” he said. “I think we should return – it’s not my idea – return to the old ways.”

Palestinians need to realize that their strategy isn’t working, he said.

“They’re engaging in suicide stabbings and other atrocities because they think this will help the Palestinians win,” he said. “If you can convince them there’s no chance of this working, why would a sane individual – and these are, they’re perfectly normal – why would they give up their lives? They believe that they are on a path to victory. Convince them that they are not on the path to victory and I think they will be less likely to engage in this kind of violence.”

Pipes acknowledged that people say the Palestinians will never accept defeat.

“But I say, the Germans did, the Japanese did,” said Pipes. An audience member noted that the Palestinians have an international support network that the Germans and Japanese did not.

“They do,” Pipes responded. “All those professors of English.… In the end, what really counts is, for example, water and electricity.”

While Israelis and Americans are trying to find creative ideas to hasten peace, “Palestinians aren’t playing around with creative ideas,” he said. “They’re killing.”

If the Palestinians can be convinced to give up the fight against Israel, Pipes believes that the rest of the Arab and Muslim world will similarly give up. He called Palestinians “the tip of the spear,” saying it’s hard to be more anti-Zionist than the Palestinians.

Though Pipes believes Arab and Muslim states may be tiring of losing to Israel, “I don’t see any fatigue at all” among leftists who are rallying against the Jewish state.

About the United States, Pipes said President Barack Obama seems to think that U.S. foreign policy before him has been a force for ill rather than for good in the world. Obama is making overtures to the traditional enemies of the United States, including Cuba and Iran, and paying less attention to allies, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, said Pipes.

Were Donald Trump to find himself president of the United States, Pipes worries that the “consummate dealmaker” would, like all his predecessors, fail at facilitating an agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

“He would call them in, he would give them his instructions, they would reject him and he would blame guess who?” Pipes speculated. “I suspect he would turn against Israel.”

The Faigen Family Lecture Series – which is held in partnership with Vancouver Hebrew Academy – was founded by the late Dr. Morris H. Faigen, who passed away in 2012. The evening was introduced by his daughter, Gina, who said her father wanted a forum for conservative perspectives on Israel but also one where people with a more liberal perspective, like her, could engage.

Noa concert sells out

Achinoam Nini performs for a full house at the Chan Centre on Yom Ha’atzmaut, May 11. (photo from cjnews.com)

Despite the controversy in the months leading up to her Yom Ha’atzmaut performance at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on May 11, Noa’s concert attracted a full house and every one of the 1,185 seats was sold.

“After all the harrowing events leading up to this concert, I am so thrilled to be here and truly grateful to the Jewish Federation [of Greater Vancouver] for not folding and the Israeli ambassador for supporting!” the Israeli singer, whose full name is Achinoam Nini, posted on her Facebook page soon after she touched down in the city.

Performing barefoot throughout, the singer thanked the audience, Federation staff and the Vancouver Jewish community repeatedly during her show “for sticking up for me.”

In February, the Jewish National Fund of Canada, an annual sponsor of Vancouver’s community Yom Ha’atzmaut concerts, withdrew its support, saying it would take a one-year hiatus “due to the views of the entertainment booked for this year’s celebration.”

The organization’s chief executive officer, Josh Cooper, said “the entertainer that has been hired does not reflect nor correspond to the mandate and values of JNF of Canada.” Its decision followed an article in the Jerusalem Post, later retracted, that claimed Vancouver Jews were “outraged” over Nini’s performance and alleged that she supports the boycott, divest and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. She has repeatedly denied the allegation.

After JNF Canada withdrew, the Israeli embassy and the Consulate General of Israel in Toronto stepped in as sponsors. Irit Stopper, deputy consul general in Toronto, represented the state of Israel at the event. It was also attended by Linda Kislowicz, president and CEO of Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA, Vancouver City Councilor Geoff Meggs and Burnaby-Lougheed NDP MLA Jane Shin.

Outside the Chan Centre, Michael Brosgart, president of the Jewish Defence League in British Columbia, stood with a handful of supporters and a few placards declaring “Terrorists are obstacles to peace; Biblical Zionists are not.”

A folding table held pictures of an Israeli couple murdered by Palestinian terrorists, and Brosgart distributed material to bystanders. The pages contained excerpts from letters expressing objections to Nini’s performance from community member Frances Belzberg and Israel Defence Forces Lt.-Col. Eyal Platek, as well as links to articles about the singer.

“Noa is supporting the most divisive groups in Israel – B’tselem, Breaking the Silence, BDS and JStreet,” Brosgart said. “Unfortunately, Jewish Federation and the Israeli embassy, because they’re funding this, are supporting her. We think this is rotting the Jewish community.”

On JDL’s Facebook page Brosgart elaborated. “This performance will be extremely divisive, distasteful, disrespectful and does not represent the views and interests of the community. Especially at the time we need unity the most. This is not about free speech. Nini can sing her sh—y songs anywhere she wants. However, this is Israel’s Independence Day. To bring an anti-Israel, terror-sympathizing, enemy-strengthening performer on this day is to spit in the face of all who have lost loved ones defending the nation of Israel.”

One Israeli who attended the concert but asked not to be named said she disliked that Nini “does not separate her political views from her artistry. I’m sorry the selection committee didn’t do more research before they chose her, but I think they learned a lesson,” the woman said.

After seeing the Facebook responses of Israelis in Vancouver opposed to the performance, she decided to attend nevertheless. She added that, once Nini was invited to Vancouver, “I think it was the best thing to keep her here instead of canceling the performance.”

The kosher restaurant Shuk Eat & Play hosted an alternative Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration dinner for 110 attendees the same night.

“I heard Noa’s political sayings and I didn’t appreciate it,” said Shuk owner Alon Volodarsky. “So, some people who didn’t like her suggested we hold this dinner for those community members who still wanted to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut but didn’t want to attend the concert.”

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net. This article was originally published in the Canadian Jewish News.

A tapestry at the Zack

Valeri Sokolovski’s work forms part of A Tapestry of Cultures, the group art exhibit now on display at the Zack Gallery. (photo by Olga Livshin)

A Tapestry of Cultures opened last week at the Zack Gallery. Run in conjunction with Festival Ha’Rikud, which took place May 12-15, the group show also commemorates the birthday of Israel. As such, I expected it to reflect the blend of cultures that together make the multicultural tapestry of Israeli society, but the exhibit was much more global in scope.

With the exception of a few identifiably Israel-focused pieces – mostly photos by Avie Estrin – the rest of the artwork on display could have been created in any country, by an artist from any part of the world.

The Tel Aviv apartment building in Nancy Stern’s photograph wouldn’t be out of place in Vancouver or Prague. The sandals in a large painting by Rina Lederer-Vizer could have been lying on a beach in Spain or hiding under a park bench in San Francisco. The flapper dress from a small piece by Vladimira Fillion Wackenreuther could have been on sale in any fashion store from Moscow to Tokyo.

The exhibition as a whole announces that we all belong to one nation, cosmopolitan in the best sense, regardless of our country of citizenship or our mailing address. We live on the same planet and share similar values.

The theme of music and musicians appears in paintings by several artists in the show. Eternal and borderless, music wanders where it will, crossing barriers, especially now with the internet. Valeri Sokolovski’s images illustrate the concept perfectly. One could encounter his musicians almost anywhere. Their ethnicity is vague, but their passion soars in his paintings. Sokolovski’s musicians play with such intensity, the viewer can almost hear the notes, the syncopated beats and the soulful melodies.

In between his blue players, Karen Hollowell’s trumpeter introduces a much mellower tune, sunny yellow and flowing. The painting has a romantic quality. Her musician is not here on a street corner, but is somewhere else, behind the veil of imagination.

Not so with Iza Radinsky’s dancers. They strive to twirl off the wall and into the room, their skirts flashing, their feet performing to a jolly rhythm. The artist’s brushstrokes are blurry, but the dancers’ joy is crystal clear, and it transmits outside the frame, sprinkling everyone who passes the gallery.

In contrast to Radinsky’s dancers, Lauren Morris’ image is abstract and colorful, echoing the charm of dreams. Colors splash on the canvas in fanciful profusion and the viewer wonders, Is it a choir singing hymns? Is it a flock of birds on a wire, lost in their lofty trills? Or maybe it’s a flowerbed of exotic orchids, each one a song?

Meanwhile, a crowd of musicians populates David Akselrod’s “Gathering.” The painting is almost a metaphor of the show itself, gleeful and whimsical. The musicians are as cheerful and diverse as the artists who gathered for the exhibit’s opening. They play different instruments and have different skin colors, but they congregate in the same place, they mingle and laugh, and they share the delight of their art with each other and with the viewers.

The motif of unity – of all of us sharing, depending on each other – underlies Orly Ashkenazy’s “The Butterfly Effect.”

“It’s about the 12 tribes of Israel,” said the artist. She even inserted the names of the tribes in Hebrew into the painting. They intertwine with each other like a faint pattern of gold arabesques on a butterfly’s wing, a design mirroring real life, underscoring our own interconnections and effects on each other and the world around us.

It is impossible to mention all of the artists participating in the show in one short article, but all their creations complement and enhance one another.

“In my opinion, the calibre of work in this show is particularly high,” said Linda Lando, the gallery director.

A Tapestry of Cultures is on until May 29.

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].